Reclining chair



May 6, 1952 w. M. LEWALLEN RECLINING CHAIR Filed NOV. 22, 1949 INVENTOR WMLewaZZen ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 6, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFECE RECLINING CHAIR- Worth M.'Lewallen, HighPBinaN'. o. Appiication November 22, 1949, Serial No.-128,838

5 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved mechanism for a reclining chair.

By Way of background, it may be noted that in the art, reclining chair mechanisms as presently constructed are thought to have one or more disadvantages, in that many of them are complicated, involving the use of buttons, levers, ratchets, rings, strings, or other parts. Others have Visible working parts, that mar the appearance of the chair.- In still other cases, reclining chairs as presently constructed are difiicult to manufacture and complicated to assemble, thus raising the cost thereof materially. In still other cases, the back of the chair tends to shift or rise whenever the occupant of the chair moves or shifts position this representing an inconvenience or annoyance to the user.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a reclining chair mechanism which will have none of the disadvantages noted above, thus to provide a generally improved reclining chair construction acceptable both to the manufacturer and the consumer.

Summarizedbriefly, the invention comprises a reclining chair construction which in its broadest aspects includes a chair back that is pivotally mounted a short distance above its lower end. The lower end of the chair back, as a result, swings in anarc, and is fitted with a brake shoe or other friction element. The brake shoe has movement along an arcuate block carried by the main frame of the chair. The chair back, in this connection, is carried pivotally by the seat frame of the chair, which seat frame is substantially stationary but will, when receiving the weight of a user, cause the chair back to be depressed slightly so as to engage the block and brake shoe, thus to hold the chair back in any position of inclination as long as a user remains seated in the chair, and permitting the chair back to return to upright position only when the user leaves the chair com pletely.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevational view portions being broken away to show details of construction.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the front portion of the chair.

Fig; 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective vie'w'of the rear portion of the chair showing the improved reclining chair mechani n.

Referring to the drawings in detail, I provide a main or'bottom frame including the side rails 5 which in the present instance are mounted edgewise upon the laterally projecting side wings 6. Rear uprights l are secured fixedly to the rear ends of the side rails 5, and rigidly connecting the rear uprights is the transversely extending back rail 8. A transversely extending front rail 9 rigidly connects the front uprights li} that are also secured to the front ends of the side rails 5, the front uprights It) being rigidly connected at their upper ends to connect the members i l which are inturn'secured to arm rests l2 connected at their front and rear ends to the members H and the upper ends of the uprights I respectively.

From the above, it will be seen that a main frame is provided that is a rigid box-like assembly, and itwill be understood that in many instances, as for example when the chair is to be an armless one, the bottom frame can comprise merely .the side rails and the front and back rails rigidly connected to provide a substantially rectangular or box-like main frame. Other details of construction may Well be changed, according to the design which the particular chair is to take.

In any event, secured to the inner surfaces of the respective side rails 5, adjacent the rear ends ofsaidsiderails, are the blocks [3 that are rigidly secured to the side rails by screws id or similar fastening means. The blocks it have upper arouate braking surfaces [5 inclined downwardly and rearwardly of the chair and formed at their rear ends with a flat shallow recess 15 for a purpose to be described.

Supported by the main frame is a seat frame which is also of generally rectangular configuration, the seat frame including the side rails ii rigidly connected at their front ends by the front rail l8 and at their rear ends by the rear rail l9. Corner blocks 28 can reinforce the construction of the seat frame, and said seat frame is connected directly to the main frame only at the front as maybe readily seen from Fig. 2, said connections comprising in the present instance a pair of spring straps 2| of S-shape secured by screws or similar fastening means to the front rail is of the-seat frame and the front rail 9 of the main frame;

Thus, in effect, it may be observed that the seat frame and the main frame have a hinge connection at their fronts, so that the rear end of the se'at'frame has a certain amount of limited upand-down movement relative to the stationary main frame.

It may be noted at this time, and by ready reference to Fig. 3, that the side rails H are not connected directly to the rear rail IS in the present instance, since it is desired that the seat frame be inwardly offset on either side, at .the rear thereof. Accordingly, short side members l3 are connected to the inner surfaces of the rear portions of the side rails I1, and extend rearwardly to the ends of the rear rail 9 being connected directly to said rear rail I9 and to the rear corner blocks 20. In this connection, the rear ends of the side rails I! are angularly cut away as at 22 to provide clearance for swinging movement of the lower portions of back members to be described immediately hereinafter.

It may be noted at this time, further, that the illustration of a chair in the drawings is merely an illustration of a chair in more or less of the framing stage thereof, that is, before upholstery is applied to the chair. Accordingly, there is illustrated merely a set of springs 23, and it will be understood that both the back, seat, and also the arm portions of the chair would be suitably upholstered.

The back of the chair includes a pair of parallel upwardly extending back frame members 24 rigidly connected and suitably cross braced as at 25, said back frame members 24 being respectively supported and pivotally connected to the side rails H of the seat frame by means of L-shaped brackets 26 the front ends of which are fixedly connected at 21' to the sides of the seat frame, and the rear ends of which extend upwardly and are pivotally connected as at 28 to the back frame members 2d a short distance above the lower ends of said members 24. fhe lower ends of the members 24 are cut away at their back as at 29 to define reduced lower extensions 36 that extend downwardly into the rear portion of the main frame, said extensions 30 respectively being provided with friction producing pads 3|, so that in effect the lower ends of the back frame members 24 are provided with brake shoes. Said lower ends of the members 24 carry, additionally, the arms 32 having offset rear ends 33 rigidly connected to the extensions 39 and extended forwardly from said extensions 33, the front ends of the arms 32 being connected to the front ends of springs 3 that are connected at their rear ends to the back rail 8 of the main frame.

The brake shoes 3|, as readily seen from Fig. 3, normally seat in the recesses |6, when the back frame comprising the connected members 24 is in its upright position. When, however, the upper portion of the back frame is swung rearwardly to a selected reclining position, the exsions 30 swing forwardly, with the brake shoes 3| moving in an arc defined by the arcuate braking surface |5. It will be understood that friction is produced between the brake shoes 3| and the braking surface l5, and I have found it desirable to coat the braking surface with a friction producing coating to cooperate with the friction element 3|. The friction produced, however, is not so great as to prevent anyone seating himself in the chain from moving the back of the chain to a reclining position simply by pressing thereagainst with his back. When, however, he has pressed the back of the chair to a desired reclining position, it will stay in said position even though he may shift position in the chair, and sit upright in the chair. The

back of the chair will remain in said reclining position as long as the Weight of the user is disposed upon the seat frame. This is by reason of the fact that the seat frame, as before noted, has a certain amount of up-and-down movement at its rear end, this being provided for by the hinge connection of the seat frame to the main frame at the front thereof. Accordingly, when the weight of the user is disposed upon the seat frame, this will cause the rear end of the seat frame to be pressed downwardly, and as a result, the entire back of the chair will be pressed downwardly an infinitesimal amount, so as to cause the brake element 3| to press against the braking surface l5. As a result, as long as the user of the chair remains seated therein, he can shift position as desired, and the back of the chair will always remain in the selected reclining position to which it was pressed rearwardly when the user first seated himself in the chair.

However, whenever the user of the chair rises and leaves the chair entirely, his weight will of course no longer be utilized in holding the seat frame and the back of the chair downwardly. Accordingly, by reason of the particular relative location of the springs 34 and the angularly disposed spring supporting arms 32, the pull of the springs 34 will not only tend to return the back of the chair to its normal upright position, but also, without the weight of an occupant upon the seat frame, will be able to overcome the relatively small friction present between the members 3| and I5 when an occupants weight is not upon the seat frame.

It may be noted, in this connection, that when the spring 34 pulls the extensions 30 rearwardly to their maximum extent, illustrated in the drawings, said members 30 will move into the shallow indentation It. Thus, the chair can be used with an upright back, that is, an occupant can seat himself in the chair, without exerting more than normal back'pressure against the back of the chair, and will not press the back of the chair to any reclining position. The back of the chair will be pressed to a reclining position only when positive back pressure is exerted by the occupant thereagainst, and once said back pressure has been exerted to move the back of the chair to a selected reclining position, no further back pressure is needed to hold the chair in said position or keep it from returning to an upright position.

What is claimed is:

1. A reclining chair including a bottom frame, a seat frame connected thereto for up and down movement of its back end relative to the bottom frame, a back frame pivotally connected intermediate its ends to the back end of the seat frame, said pivotal connection of the back frame being the sole point of pivotal movement of the back frame, the back frame being carried entirely upon the seat frame whereby to be shifted bodily upwardly and downwardly with the seat frame, means normally retaining the back frame in an upright position, and, friction producing elements on the bottom frame and the lower end of the back frame engaging on imposition of weight upon the seat frame tending to shift the back frame downwardly, to retain the back frame in selected positions of inclination to which pivotally swung.

2. A reclining chair comprising a main frame, a seat frame mounted thereon and connected to the main frame in a manner to permit up-anddown movement of the back end of the seat frame relative to the main frame, a back frame pivotally connected to the back end of the seat frame intermediate the ends of the back frame, said pivotal connection of the back frame being the sole point of pivotal movement of the back frame, the back frame being carried entirely upon the seat frame whereby to be shifted bodily upwardly and downwardly with the seat frame, and brake shoes on the lower ends of the back frame adapted to contact the main frame to produce friction for preventing movement of the back frame from a selected position of inclination when the weight of a user is disposed upon the seat frame to press the seat frame and the back frame downwardly toward the main frame.

3. In a reclining chair construction a box-like bottom frame, a box-like seat frame hingedly con nected at its front end to the bottom frame, the rear end of the seat frame having limited upand-down movement relative to the main frame, and a back frame pivotally connected intermediate its ends to the back portion of the seat frame, said pivotal connection of the back frame being the sole point of pivotal movement of the back frame, the back frame being carried entirely upon the seat frame whereby to be shifted bodily upwardly and downwardly with the seat frame, the lower ends of the back frame swinging in an are having said pivotal connection of the back frame as its center, said lower ends having frictional contact with the main frame, whereby the weight of a user upon the seat frame will cause the seat frame and the back fram to be pressed downwardly slightly toward the main frame to produce friction between the back frame and main frame to an extent sufficient to prevent movement of the back frame from a position of inclination to which the back frame is pivotally swung.

4. In a reclining chair a box-like bottom frame, a box-like seat frame hingedly connected at its front end to the bottom frame, the rear end of the seat frame having slight up-and-down movement relative to the bottom frame, brake blocks fixedly secured to the bottom frame and having arcuate braking surfaces, pivot brackets extending rearwardly from and fixedly secured to the rear portion of the seat frame, a back frame pivotally connected intermediate its ends to the pivot brackets, said pivotal connection of the back frame to the pivot brackets constituting the sole point of pivotal movement of the back frame, the lower end of the back frame swinging in an are having said pivotal connection of the back frame as its center, the arc to which said arcuate braking surfaces are forl 166, being common to the arc traversed by the lower end of the back frame for frictional engagement of the lower end of the back frame with said braking surfaces in any position to which the back frame is swung and brake shoes on the lower end of the back fram having frictional contact with said arcuate surfaces of the blocks, whereby the disposition of the weight of the user upon the seat frame will cause the rear portion of the seat frame to be pressed downwardly to cause said brake shoes to frictionally grip said arcuate braking surfaces, thus to prevent movement of the back frame from a selected position of inclination to which the back frame is swung.

5. In a reclining chair construction a box-like bottom frame, a box-like seat frame hingedly connected at its front end to the front portion of the bottom frame, the rear portion of the seat frame having up-and-down movement relative to the bottom frame, L-shaped pivot brackets fixedly secured to and extending rearwardly from the side surfaces of the seat frame, a back frame pivotally connected intermediate its ends to said pivot brackets, said pivotal connection of the back frame to the pivot brackets being the sole point of pivotal movement of the back frame, the back frame being supported wholly by the seat frame whereby to be shifted bodily upwardly and downwardly with the seat frame, the lower ends of the back frame traversing an are having said pivotal connection as its center, brake blocks carried by the bottom frame, said blocks having arcuately depressed braking surfaces formed to an are substantially common to the arc traversed by said lower ends, brake shoes on the lower en ds of the back frame and having frictional engagement with said brake blocks in any position to which the back frame is pivotally swung, the friction between said brake shoes and brake blocks increasing responsive to the imposition of the weight of a user upon the seat frame tending to shift the seat frame and back frame downwardly toward the main frame, and a spring connection between the lower end of the back frame and the main frame adapted to return the back frame to an upright position whenever the weight of a user is not disposed upon the seat frame, said brake blocks having recesses at their rear ends offset downwardly from said braking surfaces and receiving the lower end of the back frame in the :1 upright position of the back frame.

WORTH M. LEWALLEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 597,581 Kluenter Jan. 18, 1898 944,065 Wilmot Dec. 21, 1909 1,015,452 Milner Jan. 23, 1912 1,279,943 Thum Sept. 24, 1918 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 568,702 Germany Jan. 23, 1933 

